Educational Equity in Inclusive Schools: The Case of Two District Councils in Mwanza, Tanzania

Milka V. Otieno
St. John’s University of Tanzania
Email: omilka@sjut.ac.tz

Abstract: This research is a response to the experience drawn from teaching practice assessment and observation made in a government’s inclusive secondary school in Tanzania. This paper aims to describe the observed situation of inclusive education in inclusion schools to find possible ways of improving/and if necessary, find better approaches to provide inclusive education and reduce challenges faced by disabled secondary school learners in similar contexts. This is a qualitative study that employs a case study design with purposive sampling of participants involved in data collection through observation, interviews, document review, and field notes, which included education policies on disabilities. The capability approach and social justice perspectives were used to analyse data and St. John’s University of Tanzania’s ethical approval was sought; further permission from the Prime Minister’s Office Regional and Local Government (PMORALG) to collect data in other government-inclusive schools where the original teaching practice assessment was not conducted, but within the same region was also sought. The findings in this analysis indicated a dire need for psychosocial support and robust research in other regions across Tanzania, intending to improve the provision of inclusive education and the inclusion of schools’ facilities across the country.